Essay by Eric Worrall

A horrid mess of impoverished workers, alleged pollution, government subsidies and a big dose of greenwashing.

Energy Secretary embroiled in new Drax greenwashing row

By CALUM MUIRHEAD 
UPDATED: 06:51 AEST, 27 April 2025

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been accused by US activists of being complicit in the pollution of a town in Mississippi by handing billions in taxpayer cash to a UK power firm that they claim is harming the health of residents.

Drax Group operates a power plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, that generates electricity by burning wood pellets. Many of these are sourced from forests in the US and shipped to the UK.

Activists from Gloster in Mississippi, where Drax runs a wood pellet factory, say pollution from its plant has caused health issues for people nearby, including heart disease, cancer and respiratory problems.

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Nonetheless, the company has received billions in green energy subsidies from the Government. In February, Miliband agreed to hand the group another £2 billion in taxpayer cash over four years.

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Read more: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-14650335/Energy-Secretary-embroiled-new-Drax-greenwashing-row.html

There is a fair bit to unpack.

According to the article, Drax has paid millions of dollars in fines in recent years. Local US officials also recently refused permission for Draw to increase emissions.

The town of Gloster in Mississippi is a low income mostly black community of 897 people. Drax employs around 49 people.

If Drax is forced to pull out, around 49 jobs will be lost in a community where jobs are in short supply. But the green funding provided by the British government is helping to spread pollution in a vulnerable community, and is part of the green insanity which is impoverishing British people.

Is the pollution form the Drax wood chip plant in Gloster genuinely causing problems? Who knows – these days, it’s difficult to tell the difference between fake activist pollution standards and pollution which causes a genuine problem. But it seems possible someone has been careless with waste, and woodchipping on that scale produces a lot of waste.

What a mess. I’m glad it’s not my job to sort it out.